


Delicate System

by orphan_account



Series: Pre-Series [2]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Bartlet's first campaign, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2014-04-28
Packaged: 2018-01-21 03:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1535414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time that Donna learns of Josh's sensitivity to alcohol. Pre-series during Bartlet's first campaign.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Delicate System

**Author's Note:**

> This is pretty much just fluff and no actual relationship stuff but I'm easing my way into writing Josh and Donna. I don't think that I got the characterizations right but I am trying to get there. It may take me a while. I just know that I love Josh and Donna and want to write a thousand stories about them.

It was too early. Donna didn't have to look at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock to know that. But look she did and a groan slipped out of her mouth when she realized that she hadn't been sleeping for three hours yet. She pushed herself up to a sitting position, shivering at the slight chill in the hotel room as she pushed the blankets away and turned on a lamp. The tapping continued on the door, annoying enough to make her want to yell at the person on the other side. She should have known exactly who it was. Her boss was leaning against the doorway, peering at her with a strange glint in his eyes. He pointed up at her after a moment.

"You left me." he sighed before staggering into the room.

Donna turned to face him, able to smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Come right in." she said, closing the door.

Josh sighed, turning in place several times before looking back at her.

"My affairs were all out of order. Did you know that? Everything was just… chaos. My desk was utterly unusable." He ranted.

"Your desk is always unusable. How many beers did you have?" Donna questioned.

Josh frowned at her as if the question was one of national importance that he couldn't possibly divulge to her. After several moments, he sighed and shrugged as he turned away.

"Two, maybe three."

Donna expected the number to be higher than that judging by his slightly slurred speech.

"You should get to your room? You have staff meeting in four hours." She said.

Josh didn't listen, moving further into the room. Donna followed him at a safe distance, unsure of how to be around her boss at the moment. Her return from the failed reunion with her ex was only a week ago and she was still treading carefully around Josh. When he sat on her bed, she somehow felt like he wouldn't be standing for a while.

"Josh." She complained.

"Donna." he replied, looking up at her. "Donnatella."

He sounded each syllable of her name out, as if considering the word carefully. When Josh reached out and took her hand, well two of her fingers, she let out a surprised noise. He didn't appear to have heard it, pulling her toward the bed to sit down with him. Donna did as he wanted, wondering how long it would take him to pass out. She would prefer to get him to his own room before the inevitable took place but as more time passed, she didn't see that happening.

"You're like this after two or three beers?" Donna asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"I'm sensitive." Josh muttered, leaning back against the headboard.

She sighed, climbing up beside him. Donna stretched her legs out beneath the blankets and looked over at him to see that he was watching her. His eyes were glazed over but somehow still looking at her as though he was trying to figure her out.

"Josh?" Donna said, worried about the silence that stretched on.

It was rare for him not to be ranting about something or another. Actually, scratch rare, she never heard him be quiet unless he was listening to Leo or the Governor. Even when they were watching the news, he constantly debated with the Republicans on the screen as if they could hear his scathing remarks.

"Donna." he sighed before pitching forward.

At first, she reached out to steady him before she realized that he was trying to lie down. Somehow, his head ended up in her lap. Donna looked down at him with wide eyes, surprised at the sudden intimate position that they were in. After several moments of staring at him, Josh sighed and began speaking again.

"I heard that Mandy got a job." He said quietly.

Donna suddenly realized the reasoning behind his inebriated state. Despite the grateful comments from CJ, Toby, and Sam about the end of Josh's relationship with Mandy, Josh was still moping about it every once in a while. The others hadn't been big fans of how she treated their friend but he still imagined himself living a happy life with her if only she wasn't on the other side of the country. Before Donna knew it, her hand migrated to Josh's hair and she began stroking it softly. Despite its unruly appearance, his hair was actually quite soft to the touch. Donna didn't really know how to do the supportive assistant thing. Her forte was banter and sarcasm, the same as Josh. It was how they found a good routine with each other so quickly. So when she started to speak, her reply did not go as planned.

"Your hair still grows after you die." Donna slipped out.

Josh didn't answer for several moments, obviously trying to sort out what this meant to his failed relationship.

"Really?" he finally said.

"Yep. And do you know what hippophobia is? I'll give you a hint, not a fear of hippos." Donna said, running her fingers through his hair.

He considered it for a moment but it was taking too long for her.

"Horses." She informed him.

"Hmm." Josh murmured.

Donna knew that he was humoring her. It was what most people did when she spouted out her random facts. Josh sighed once more, throwing his arm over her legs as well.

"I'm glad you came back." he whispered.

She looked down at him with surprise before a smile formed on her lips. Josh couldn't see it but her entire face lit up at the quiet declaration.

"Me too." Donna said in a low voice.

After a few more minutes, his breath evened out and she knew that he was asleep. Donna wasn't sure of what to do. Just as she tried to shift him off of her, Josh turned over willingly and laid with his back to her. She reached over carefully, knowing that it wasn't exactly the greatest idea for them to sleep in a bed together. Still, Donna couldn't really move him herself and she wasn't willing to call Sam and Toby. The former would be chipper as always and the latter would fix her with a frown as they hauled Josh out of the room. It wouldn't be good for his delicate system and she didn't really want vomit all over her floor.

So Donna switched off the light and curled underneath the blankets, turning her back to Josh as well. Just before she slid into unconsciousness, she could have sworn that two strong arms were pulling her back against a solid chest. A chin rested against her shoulder and Donna heard a sigh of contentment that brought a slight smile to her face before she fell asleep.

* * *

 

The next morning, she thought she might have made the whole thing up. Her dreams were rather vivid and there was no proof that Josh had been anywhere in her room. Donna pushed it aside, getting ready for the day before hurrying downstairs to grab some breakfast from the free buffet before the guys ate it all. When she was loading her plate up with fruit, she happened to glance up to see the others seated at a table. There wasn't an extra chair that she could see so she began to walk past them to an empty table.

"Donnatella."

She turned around quickly, catching sight of Josh looking up at her expectantly. Sure enough, there was an empty chair that she hadn't seen. He pushed it out with his foot in invitation and she walked up to the table. CJ gave her a morning greeting as she sat.

"How were your few hours?" Sam asked with a cheery smile.

"Fine." Donna answered, peeling back a banana.

Josh was reading a memo, paying no attention to the food on his plate. Donna glanced up at it, noticing a delicious looking muffin. She hadn't even grabbed any of the pastries. Her eyes lifted to look at Josh for a moment before she reached out and snatched it away, putting it on her own plate. Josh didn't notice, still scanning the paper. She began eating away at the blueberry muffin happily, not missing the slight smirk on Toby's face as he glanced over at her.

"So, how are you feeling this morning?" CJ asked, barely containing her amusement at Josh's expense.

His eyes flickered up to Donna as she froze, looking back at him.

"I'll have you know… hey!"

Josh seemed to realize that his plate was missing a muffin that was quickly disappearing into his assistant's mouth.

"You should be sad you missed it, Donna. Josh only had two beers before he was staggering all over the place and mistaking Toby for the Governor." Sam said, grinning at his best friend.

"Mmm." Donna nodded, unable to keep a smile off of her face.

She pulled her plate away, keeping the rest of the muffin out of Josh's reach.

"Sounds like someone has a delicate system." She said with sparkling eyes.

Josh stopped trying to get his food back, sitting back with a huff. Despite his appearance of annoyance, he had a slight smile on his face and a glint in his eyes that told her that the whole thing hadn't been her imagination. Before Donna knew it, her mood improved even more. She sat up a little bit straighter, joining in the banter as the rest of the campaign staffers taunted Josh. After a week of treading carefully, she finally felt like things were back to normal between her and Josh. In fact, she felt like they were even better than before.

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear what you think.


End file.
